alfie & hetty | glebe eatery

food glorious food!

On the 3rd October, The Jacksons & The Williams went out for Dinner Club.
For my choice, we dined at Alfie & Hetty on Glebe Point Rd in Glebe.

In the 1920’s Alfie and Hetty were great mates who lived side by side on the site that is now the restaurant. Alfie was a gangster and party boy and Hetty a caring & upstanding lady of the community. According to the website:

Mrs. N Stapleton or better known as Hetty, was an institution to her neighbours’ and the community for being a caring and gregarious women. She would cook for the locals and their children, especially well known for her famous roast on a Sunday.

Hetty lived in 207 Glebe Point Road till her death in 1925 while still awaiting the return of her son, who was lost in the war. In Honour of this lovely women we have not only named our restaurant Hettys’ Place, but also offer the famous roasts she was so well known for.

Alfie White, who lived in 209 from 1921, was known to be the right hand man of the local Gangster. Alfie was the collector of money owed, and was also in charge of the Speakeasy, which he ran out of the upstairs of this house.

So in Honour of Mr. White we have named our upstairs area Alfie’s Bar, a place where the elegance and notoriety of the 1920’s is mixed up with Hetty’s favourite dishes, and Alfie’s favourite cocktails.

I love the integration of history into Sydney’s restaurants and bars of late, and how, through dining and drinking we are led to embrace the stories and feel apart of eras past that have laid the foundation to our beautiful city.

The food is about sharing and having good times, so keeping with that ethos, Jay & shared a steak and we had chips for the table.

The food is well priced but I’d give the cocktails a miss. We finished off a wonderful evening of catching up with our good friends with dessert down the street at SanChurro.

strawberries & white chocolate dipping sauce

♦

gowings bar & grill

food glorious food!

Gowings Bar & Grill is located in the QT Hotel on Market St in the city.

It is my new Sydney favourite restaurant! I went there for a work celebration lunch about 2 months ago and then again last month for my 35th birthday with Jay.

Here are some pics of this deliciously magical place!

the entrance to Gowings Bar & Restaurant

The Gowings building was established in 1868 and has sat dormant for many years after the family owned department chain went out of business in 2001.

QT boutique hotel chain opened on the premises in 2012 and within it’s first year of operation Gowings Bar & Restaurant received a Chef’s Hat!

To visit, check out the details [here].

banoffee pie | recipe

food glorious food!

Broadsheet published Cafe Sopra’s famous banoffee pie recipe which I replicated about a month ago!

Ingredients:

2 x 395g cans of sweetened condensed milk
180g unsalted butter, chopped
375g digestive biscuits, halved
600ml thickened cream
2 vanilla beans, seeds scraped out
75g icing sugar, sifted
4 bananas
30g dark chocolate, finely grated

Method:
Place cans of condensed milk in a large saucepan of water and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2 hours, adding water if necessary to ensure cans remain covered, remove cans and cool in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Meanwhile melt butter in a small saucepan, and then cool slightly. Using a food processor, crush biscuits to fine crumbs, add the butter and process briefly to combine. Press crumb mixture over the base of a greased 28cm loose based tin then refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm the base.

Open cooled cans of condensed milk and spoon caramel evenly over the biscuit base and refrigerate overnight to firm.

To assemble pie: Using an electric mixer whisk cream, vanilla bean seeds and sugar to stiff peaks. Cut bananas into thin slices. Remove pie from tin, loosen base and place on a plate. Spoon or pipe half the whipped cream over the caramel filling, then place bananas in an overlapping circle working from the outside in. Top with the remaining cream and sprinkle with grated chocolate.

Cut into slices with a hot dry knife and serve immediately.

Tip: To stop noise of cans rattling in the saucepan, place a folded tea towel in the base before adding the water.

Caution: extremely sweet & requires 6 or more people to eat it!

the owl house

food glorious food!

Want the two best words of the week?

Date Night!

The Owl House in Darlinghurst is where we went for our date earlier this week.

Located just off Williams St, this little red terrace is cute & cosy; hosting a well stocked candlelit bar downstairs and a small dining room upstairs.

We had a special experience created by Lime & Tonic which was for a set 5 small-course meal which we kicked off at the bar;

I'd have to say I agree! — I’d have to say I agree!

We were then taken upstairs by the waitress Anna for our dinner

The terraces in Darlinghurst have a lot of history; the suburb was established in the 1830s and in recent years business owners are embracing the history of the area and the people who lived there through interior design that keeps in theme with the rich history of early Sydney.

My photos are a little dark, as I didn’t want to disrupt the ambiance (or embarrass Jay) with my phone’s gigantic flash! But you get the idea; Commonwealth influences, red walls, candles, recycled timber, etc.

course 1 | oyster with pepper citrus foam

course 2 | oxtail croquette on a bed of herbed mayo & watercress

course 3 | beetroot mousse with creme fraiche & snowpea tendrils — course 3 | beetroot mousse with creme fraiche celeriac coleslaw & snowpea tendrils

course 4 | veal medallion, brisket with walnut cracker topping on parsnip mash with roasted yellow beetroot & shredded silverbeet

course 5 | chocolate mousse topped with honeycomb with a little chocolate & almond brownie

The food was an exciting surprise (we didn’t know what the menu held for us) and the dining room is intimate and candlelit, making for a romantic night out!

If you can, I recommend you head over there for an after work beverage or dinner with a girlfriend/mate/date!

‘Best Bar with Food’ winner: 2012 SMH Good Food Guide. The Owl House Darlinghurst is for superb food, or spoiling yourself with a cocktail for grown-ups.

Check out their website for details

♦